


Flat 40b

by Niceto_Thetya



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Chameleon Arch (Doctor Who), Disaster aliens, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Misunderstandings, Multiple Doctors (Doctor Who), Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:43:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29661249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Niceto_Thetya/pseuds/Niceto_Thetya
Summary: Thea Smith just moved in with her best friend Yaz, and they're about to get six new flatmates; Bill, Amy, Martha, Rose, Ash, and Jenny.  How long will it take them to work out that they're all there on the account of some mysterious Doctors, and will any of them notice that Thea isn't as human as she appears?OrThirteen is forced to use the chameleon arch, and several Doctor's are drawn into the mystery.
Relationships: Amy Pond/Rory Williams, Ashildr | Lady Me/Clara Oswin Oswald, Eleventh Doctor/River Song, Heather (Doctor Who: The Pilot)/Bill Potts, Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan, Twelfth Doctor/Missy, Twelfth Doctor/River Song
Comments: 17
Kudos: 41





	1. Who Knows Where They Will Lead

**Author's Note:**

> Just for the sake of establishing timelines;  
> Nine, Jack and Rose are all between the events of The Doctor Dances and Boom Town.  
> Ten and Martha are in the gap between Blink and Utopia, so Martha and Jack haven't met, yet, and Martha doesn't know Jenny.  
> Eleven, Amy and Rory are in between Let's Kill Hitler and Night Terrors.  
> River is just before The Husband's of River Song.  
> Clara and Ashildr are post Hell Bent.  
> Twelve, Bill, Nardole and Missy are in between Knock Knock and Oxygen.  
> Thirteen and Yaz are post Revolution of the Daleks. 
> 
> For Jenny I'll only be aknowledging the Doctor's Daughter episode- I don't own any of the extended universe content on her yet to be able to reference it.  
> Donna also probably won't appear, just because I couldn't find a semi-natural way to include her so it would have felt very forced (also, I'm nowhere near funny enough to write Donna).  
> The only real alteration to timelines I will make at this point is that for the sake of the plot, the Doctor has only mentioned Rose to Martha by her first name.

The TARDIS console erupted into a shower of sparks, and the whole ship gave such a violent lurch that both women standing at the console risked losing their footing. 

“What are them things?” Yaz was hanging off the edge of the console, looking at the Doctor as though she held the answers. It wasn’t as though that assumption would usually have been unfounded, but right now the blonde looked just as confused as she felt.

“Dunno. Workin’ on it.” The Doctor said, gesturing for Yaz to hold on tighter before throwing them into another harsh movement. She winced slightly as smoke began to pour from under a panel on the console, patting the edge nearest fondly. “Sorry Old Girl.”

The crystal columns in the room were pulsing crimson, in time with the throbbing of the low siren emanating all around them. The ship was trying to warn them about something. The Doctor took another look at the screen and muttered something which sounded like it might have been profane if Yaz could understand the language.

“Weird ship, no proper engines. ‘Least they’re not shootin’- I still don’t like it, though. How are they doin’ that?” She jabbed at the screen with a finger, pulling a face of intense concentration, before muttering something else incoherent to herself, and tearing around the console again at breakneck speed. “They’re tracking us.”

The console let out another jet of sparks, and Yaz quickly jumped back, grabbing onto the honeycomb railings of the stairs instead. She didn’t need her clothes catching fire and making this whole situation worse.

“So guessing the driving lesson is off?” It was a pathetic attempt at humour, but the grin the Doctor shot her was worth it. Her hair was a mess from running her hands through it, and she had somehow managed to get ash from one of the damaged TARDIS components smudged across her nose, but she always tended to look at home in situations like this. Chaos was her element.

“Would have been a pants one anyway. Never actually passed my test.” The Doctor’s voice was a little strained as she spoke the last few words while wrestling with a particularly tough lever. She eventually managed to yank the uncooperative beast into place, sending the whole room spinning violently in a way which sent her flying. She hit one of the crystals with a thump loud enough to make Yaz, who herself had fallen into an uncomfortable sitting position on the stairs, wince.

“You never passed your test? I couldn’t tell!” She added sarcastically, forcing herself to stand and gripping the railings as she made her way on unsteady feet across the whirling control room to make sure her friend was okay.

“Oi! I’ll have you know I’m the best living TARDIS pilot in the galaxy!” She seemed to think for a minute, before conceding, “Well, maybe the second best.” As Yaz helped her up.

“And how many are there?”

“Two.”

“Comforting!”

Something else in the console made a highly concerning bang, letting out a puff of purple smoke which smelt strongly of burning rubber. The Doctor ran over to check on it.

“And it’s not my fault that-“ Something in her face shifted. “My fault! It’s me, they’re tracking me! Oh that makes so much more sense. Weird biology, unique tracers. Easy target with advanced enough technology.

“So why are they tracking you?!” Yaz was back at the console, staring at the scanners. She might not have been able to read the odd circular lettering but she could see the little dot being tracked across the screen.

“I don’t know, but the last time this happened-“ She shook her head. “It’s probably not good.”

“Right. Okay- so what’s the plan?” Yaz looked at her frantically. The Doctor bit her lip, grabbing onto the edge of the console as the whole room lurched again.

“Evasive manoeuvres. Hold on tight.”

* * *

“So, who is it Doctor?”

The Doctor looked up for the first time in an hour when Jack spoke up, not batting an eye at the fact he was sitting with his back against the railings in a pirate hat while Rose painted his nails. Evidently the pair of them had gotten bored of digging through the boxes under the console room floor at some point while he’d been distracted.

“Who’s what?” He asked, clearly still not entirely focused on them.

Jack smirked. “Well I’ve never seen anyone stare that hard at a computer for that long if it didn’t have naked people on it.”

“Oi, behave, you! I’m working. Where’d you get that, anyway.” He gestured vaguely at his own head to indicate the pirate hat.

“You had a box labelled ‘hats I’d like to wear someday’.” Rose explained without looking up from what she was doing. She herself was wearing a _mortarboard_ with a large rubber duck glued to the top.

“Oh. Yeah- that. Forgot about that. I used to be more of a hat person. Maybe I will be again, who knows.” He leant over towards the still open box, holding the computer in one hand, and pulling out a bright red fez, setting it on top of his head. “What do you think, does it suit me?” He gave an exaggerated smile. Both of his friends dissolved into giggles.

“Oh I am begging you never to put that thing on again.”

“Yeah, I’m with her on this one.” Jack grimaced.

Rose’s laughter increased to the point she was practically cackling when he hurled a wad of balled up paper at the thing with surprising accuracy, knocking it off the Doctor’s head and down the stairs behind him. He pouted slightly at the pair of them, though that hardly helped stem the giggling fit.

“What’re you working on, anyway?” Jack asked, curiosity getting the best of him. They’d been planning a trip to Space Florida, but when the Doctor got invested in things like this it usually meant that they were going to wind up in some kind of trouble instead.

“Strange energy signals, unidentified flying objects.” He clicked a couple of times, pulling a face. “Reports of weird things happening to the water.”

“What sort of weird things?” Jack asked.

The Doctor shrugged. “No details just. Weird.”

“Oh, great.”

That certainly seemed to have peaked Rose’s interest. “Where’s that, then? Some cool planet? Are we gonna go check it out?”

“Bristol, England- still in your time, Rose- well, give or take a decade, but you know what I mean.” He was still tapping away at the screen, trying to get a hold on the exact year.

“All of time and space and you wanna go to Bristol in 2005?” She sounded a little deflated.

“No, course not.” The Doctor glanced up at her, grinning. “I want to go to Bristol in 2017.”

“And your plan is the usual I’m guessing? Drop out of the sky, no subtlety, and just start asking questions?” Jack had stood up now, leaning back against the rails and being very careful not to smudge his nails.

“Do you have a better plan?”

Jack smirked. “This machine of yours- how is she with forging papers?”

* * *

“Oh absolutely not.”

That comment certainly earned Me a look from her travelling companion. She was sitting at the diner counter, watching Clara go over her latest paper-and-string conspiracy board, flipping the little plastic card she’d just been handed over in her fingers.

“I’ve got pretty much everything I can on this without _actually_ infiltrating, and itis driving me up the wall!” Clara fidgeted with a stack of papers sitting on the counter in between them, looking for something. Even after all these years on the TARDIS she still insisted on printing and writing everything out, working better with paper and post-its than computers.

“And why do _I_ have to go undercover?” Me complained.

“You look younger than me.” Clara insisted. “And you’re better at this stuff- I’m bad at undercover. Remember the NASA trip?”

Me cringed at the memory, but didn’t speak.

“Exactly.”

“What exactly have you found?” Me eventually asked, conceding to have Clara rant at her about whatever she’d discovered even if she didn’t feel like going along with this plan.

“There’s s weird University with tons of unexplained incidents. Teachers who don’t age, collapsing houses, two disappearances UFOs, a freak solar episode- all in this one place, most of it over one year. Then when I checked it the TARDIS systems say that there’s something in there which shouldn’t exist anywhere outside of a TARDIS. 

“And you’re sure it’s not us? Or _him_?” Me asked. When she glanced up at Clara, she frowned, “Oh. You’re hoping it’s him.”

“Don’t get jealous.” Clara warned softly, only half-teasing. Me did have a tendency towards jealousy- if only because Clara was still the only person she’d had around who wasn’t going to blow away on her, or have to be abandoned when she didn’t age. She was still so used to being alone any slight suggestion that she could lose her one constant was still terrifying for her. “He’s my friend. I miss him.”

“I know, I know.”

“But it’s probably not him. Water-monsters and ageless teachers? Doesn’t seem like his style.”

“…Ageless teachers don’t seem like his style?” Me raised an eyebrow at Clara.

“Present company excluded.”

“I’m still not sure about this.” She sat, turning the card over to inspect the back, as though there would be something that meant something to her hiding on the back. There wasn’t, of course, just a string of random numbers, a barcode and a generic ‘if found please hand in’ message, but it gave her something to focus on outside of those classic Clara Oswald puppy-dog-eyes and made it much less likely she was going to cave and agree to go play spy.

“It’ll be an adventure?”

Against her better judgement Me looked up, and sure enough Clara was giving her one of those pleading looks which had always made the Doctor melt- and which had never yet failed to have the same effect on her.

“…You know, one of these days that isn’t going to work on me anymore.”

Clara let out an excited noise, passing over even more of her notes, and building up for what was clearly going to be an extensive rant about whichever time period and city she had picked out for them.

“One thing.” Me spoke up before Clara could build up steam, flipping the student ID card over in her hands. “Can we please come up with a better fake name for me than Ash Knight?”

* * *

As it turned out, evasive manoeuvres were pretty ineffective against whatever was chasing them. It was fast, and even the Doctor’s sharp turns which should have thrown off a bulkier ship did very little to put any distance between them. She was growing visibly more nervous as their tricks continued to fail.

She looked at the ground, remembering the last time that something like this had happened, and how many people had died. Would it be better to face whatever this was here where there was no one else who could get hurt? Then, looking to Yaz, she knew that there was no way that she could let that happen. She was a selfish woman, at heart- she always had been. Her friends came first, even when the outcome might be bad for strangers. 

At least the new body would be helping rather than hindering her, for once.

“Okay. Okay.” She threw a lever on the console, sending another almighty jolt through the console room. “Evasive manoeuvres not working. Bad plan. New plan-“ she tipped her head to the side in a move that screamed ‘really not sure about this one’. Yaz didn’t look particularly confident. “Also bad plan…” A moment’s pause before she shook her head. “Best we’ve got. Right.” She didn’t elaborate, beginning to run around manipulating the controls with a renewed vigour.

“Doctor, what are you planning?”

“They’re looking for a bloke. Probably. I mean, I’m assumin’. So- I need to stop being a bloke.” She gestured down at herself. “Check.”

Yaz caught her hand as she ran past again, looking worried. “Right, so that’s not really a plan. What’re you doing?”

“We can hide. They’re looking for a bloke with two hearts.” She couldn’t quite say ‘they’re looking for a Time Lord- not when she wasn’t really sure _what_ she was anymore. This definitely wasn’t the time to spark that crisis again. “So- Being a lady with one heart will throw them off.”

“Right.” Yaz was watching her, clearly concerned. “Uh- won’t that kill you? Because if you’re about to suggest heart surgery or somethin’-”

“No!” She glanced around. “Well, probably not- I’ve done it before- _twice_ , apparently.” She nodded, remembering Ruth. Of course, she didn’t remember that time, but Yaz didn’t have to know that- making this sound like a more common thing than it was would probably make it seem better.

She stumbled slightly as the whole room shook, clinging onto the side of the console for dear life. “Old me made videos last time, I don’t think have time to-“ Another violent jolt. “No. Definitely not-“ She pressed a palm against the crystal column. “Can you load up the old John Smith protocol? The updated one. It’s been a while but it should still work fine.”

* * *

“So you’re saying there’s something ‘very very wrong’ with that building and your best plan is to send Amy in there on her own?”

“Hey! I can take care of myself, thank you very much.” Amy leant back against the railings, arms crossed while she watched her boys bickering. It was hardly anything new, but it was always a little endearing.

“Are we not remembering the last time we decided to do covert operations? With the fish vampires?”

“I’ve apologised about the fish vampires! And if we’re being technical it never even happened. Aborted timeline.” The Doctor insisted, flicking a switch on the console, and then frowning briefly when it didn’t seem to have much effect. He almost looked disappointed, until a crashing sound above them drew him out of it. “Ah- right. Wondered what that one did- I’ll fix that later.”

“Doctor? Focus- 2017, Earth, freaky school?”

“Oh! Right! Yeah- freaky school.” He moved around to read the scanner again, frowning at the message on screen. “Huon energy. The whole place is buzzing with it- only problem is, there isn’t any more huon energy.”

“I thought you said that’s what the TARDIS runs off?” Amy questioned, moving closer. She couldn’t read the screen, but she was still curious.

“It does- kind of. Something like that. There’s a bit left, in certain places, like a remnant, but it’s very, very rare.”

“So we’re still on the ‘send Amy in there on her own’ plan? Because I’m still not loving it.” Rory spoke up, also moving closer to the central console, while still shooting concerned looks at the celling.

“Amy is right here and can make that decision for herself, thank you very much.” Amy nudged him in the arm, and he shot her an apologetic look, though the concern didn’t leave his eyes.

“We’re not sending her in there on her own.” The Doctor promised, just as the room juddered, and they were all greeted by the tell-tale sound of the TARDIS landing.

“We’re there already?” Amy asked, seemingly impressed at the efficiency. It usually took them a lot longer than that to wind up where they were going.

“Not quite.” The Doctor glanced expectantly at the doors. They opened a minute or so later. 

“Hello Sweetie.”

The Doctor inclined his head slightly as River walked into the TARDIS, trying painfully hard to look cool, and failing miserably.

“River.”

“Melody.” Amy’s face lit up when River appeared, and she was on her in a moment, hugging her just a little too tight. Losing her the last time was still raw for her.

“Hi, mum.” She replied, and it was softer- not holding so much of the confident performance as she used when she greeted the Doctor. She pulled back after a moment or so, moving to kiss Rory on the cheek. “Dad.”

“So, Professor Song.” The Doctor practically beamed at her. “How do you feel about teaching on earth for a while?”

“Sounds like you have a plan in mind?” She moved over, glancing at the switch he’d flipped earlier with a frown, and putting it back- though she at least resisted the urge to comment.

“We need a bit of help with some undercover work. Huon energy turning up in a University in the late 2010s.”

“Oh well that isn’t good-“

“Hang on, Doctor if she’s going to pretend to be staff can’t we all just do that?” Rory asked, eyebrows raised.

River just smirked.

“Oh, father dear. The trouble with that is that he,” She gestured at the Doctor, “couldn’t pretend to be a normal professor to save his life.”

* * *

“And that,” The Doctor said, to the largely silent lecture hall, scanning the crowd to see their reactions, “Is how Joseph Haydn ended up with two skulls after a hundred and fifty year game of Hyden seek.”

There was a slight echo of polite laughter, which Bill didn’t quite join in with, rolling her eyes and smiling fondly. He waved a hand dismissively towards the door, and students began packing up, all eager get to the bus stop early enough to grab a seat. She looked around, briefly, spotting a few faces that were textbook newbies. You could always tell when someone was at the Doctor’s lectures for the first time.

Bill grabbed her bag, and was half-way down the steps towards the front, before the Doctor spoke again.

“Oh! And I’ll see you all at part two of my lecture on death of the author tomorrow!”

Nobody really seemed to listen.

Bill raised an eyebrow at him as she reached the front. “What happened to part one?”

He shrugged. “Too boring. Why did so many people look all-“ He made a gesture she was apparently supposed to interpret. “today? More than usual.” 

“…Because you told us you were gonna talk about some Austrian musician and then talked for forty minutes about skull cleanin’? Don’t wanna know why you know that much by the way.”

“Who do you think helped with-“

Bill held up a hand, pulling a face. “I didn’t ask.”

He looked like he wanted to finish, but didn’t push the issue. They weren’t heading in the direction of his office, going downstairs towards the vault instead. She followed without questioning- it wasn’t as though he hadn’t left the TARDIS down there before. Bill was pretty sure sometimes he did it just to frustrate Nardole.

“What did you want, anyway?” He asked. When she opened her mouth to protest, he gave her a look that made her pause, “You never come right up to me after lectures, you go do flirting with that girl with the…” He seemed to try and think of a word for a moment, before just saying, “With the hair? The orange one.”

“ _The orange one_?”

He shrugged. “Was I close?”

“Not really.”

“What did you want?”

“…I’m movin’ again. Was kinda hopin’ you could-“

“You’re moving again? You _just_ moved!”

She looked at him, face a mix of disbelief and amusement. “Yeah? And the house got eaten by earwigs from space. You were there.”

The Doctor didn’t respond, busy focusing on the locks to get there. He looked at her, a little impatient. “And you were hoping I could…?”

“Oh, right, yeah. I was hopin’ you could just come look around and have a look? Make sure there’s not anything weird? I mean it’s student flats so there’s probably not gonna be any more cannibal woodlice but-“

“They weren’t cannibals.” The Doctor responded, though he didn’t sound like he was fully paying attention. Nardole wasn’t around, which was unusual, and he was checking the lock on the vault door. He pressed an ear to the door, listening intently, only to flinch back at a noise like someone smacking as many keys on a piano as they could reach.

At this point Bill was learning not to ask about the vault.

“Well, yeah, but they ate people.”

“Woodlice aren’t people.” His attention was back on her now, seeming satisfied that nothing was amiss. “But we should probably make sure there aren’t any more in town.”

Bill smiled at that. “So you’ll check?”

“If you promise not to introduce me as grandad again- Because really that was quite offensive.”

She laughed. “Whatever you say, grandad.”

* * *

“Are you going to explain what that _thing_ does?” Yaz asked, practically shouting now over the racket the TARDIS was making. There was an odd helmet-looking thing hanging form the celling and the Doctor had been fiddling with it for long enough that she was getting very concerned.

“Remember Ruth and Lee? This is what they used. Chameleon arch- it’s a kind of bio-shielding. Rewrite’s DNA. Makes me human.”

“Makes you-“

“Human. Yes- keep up.” The Doctor pressed something on the back of the helmet, before running back to the console to flick some switches. “I’ve improved it since last time- hopefully. The TARDIS should get us _both_ somewhere to stay, and a cover story. You’ll have to play along, it can’t alter your memories or anything but I know you can do it. You’re good, Yaz, and I’m gonna need you-“ She picked up a silver watch from the console. “This- Once the machine works, this watch is me. All the time lord bits of me stay in the watch. All my memories- everything. All in the watch, okay? I won’t remember anything so I won’t know that, I’ll just ignore it, but you need to make sure that if anything happens- if stuff goes wrong- Make sure I open the watch.”

“Doctor-“ Yaz looked at her, looking more than a little confused by this sudden turn of events, but the other ship was closing in on them and they didn’t have long.

“I need to do this _now_. There are video tapes- like instructions. I’ll get them up for you- once I do this I’ll be out for a while, you’ll have time to watch them through. I’m sorry, I don’t have time to-“ She fumbled with the machine, pressing the watch into the back of it. “Promise me two things?”

Yaz nodded, quickly. “Yeah, anything.”

“Whenever I have to open the watch again, I won’t want to do it. Promise you’ll make sure I do, and then-“ She took a breath, and tried not to think too hard about what had happened the last time she’d done this. “Don’t let me fall in love with a human.” The Doctor was already fixing the odd device onto herself. “Not again.”

“What? Why? Doctor-“

Any further questions were cut off with a scream as the arch activated.

* * *

“You’re wanting me to do undercover _again_?”

“Well. Technically that other stuff wasn’t really undercover, was it? I mean, not properly.”

Martha leant onto the console, looking across at the Doctor, unimpressed. “Me being your maid when we were hiding at that school wasn’t undercover?”

He shifted, clearly a little uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had taken. “Well. Yeah that was a bit undercover.” He cocked his head to the side slightly and looked like he was about to speak some more, but she cut him off.

“An all that time in 1963 working in a shop?”

“Now that one wasn’t really my fault. How was I meant to know the weeping angels would-”

“And that’s not even mentioning the-“

“Yes, alright, okay!” The Doctor held his hands up. “You’re very good at undercover. But it’s cooler this time? Spending some time at Med School ten years in your future- that’s got to be interesting, hasn’t it?”

That had certainly peaked her interest.

“Well. I am getting a little out of practice, spending all this time zipping around with you…”

“And they make some pretty big technical advances between your time and 2017. You’d get a sneak preview.”

She looked tempted now, even if she was still determined to give him a hard time for the mess that had been their last few trips. She watched the Doctor for a moment or two, before offering a begrudging smile. It wasn’t as if she’d ever been very good at saying no to him. “All of time and space and you’re taking me to med school in Bristol? What’s so special about this school?”

“Nothing.” The Doctor shrugged “That’s what’s so weird about it. All these weird energy signals but I can’t find anything that should be sending them. There was a bunch of UFO reports leading up to the spike, too-“

“Hang on, you’re checking UFO reports now? I thought they were all weather balloons and stuff?”

“They are, mostly. Sometimes they’re something else. Plenty of times, they’re me.”

“Right. Course they are.” She shook her head, fond smile playing across her lips. “You are mad.”

“Is that a yes?”

She narrowed her eyes in mock-suspicion for a moment, before nodding. “Yeah, sounds good. Been a while since I was sharing a student house.”

“It’ll be fun. I’m sure they’ll be nice- not that you don’t get on with everyone.” Martha tried to ignore the look he was giving her; she was pretty sure he was referring to what had happened with Riley.

“Yeah. Sounds fun- we get to go somewhere more impressive after this, though, right? Another planet or something?” She offered him a pleading look, “I’m gonna start thinking all you can do is Earth.”

“We’ll do a proper planet after.”

Martha broke into a real grin. “Works for me, then. 2017 it is.”

The Doctor smiled right back at her, smacking a few buttons on the console with renewed enthusiasm and sending them into a rather turbulent take off. “Well come on then, Martha Jones. Allons-y!”

* * *

For a man who made as much noise as the Doctor, he was very hard to track down. He never stayed in one place for long, and searching for him was likely to end in jumping from planet to planet only to find he’d been and gone. Still, there were certain times when it was easy enough to be sure that the Doctor was involved and between reports of a very odd professor who never seemed to age, odd energy surges spanning over seventy years, and then a series of freak meteor strikes? Well, Jenny was damn sure this was a good place to look.

As much as part of her- the part of her which tended to favour charging in recklessly over planning- was desperate to march straight into that school and find out if that weird professor was her dad. Fortunately, over the years, she’d gotten a lot better at holding back that part of her, and so she’d actually gone to the trouble of enrolling in the University and setting herself up a half-decent cover, just in case.

Annoyingly, it did mean that she was having to spend her day moving into a student flat and trying to act normal until she could get some more information- but hey, at least it seemed like there’d be a mystery to solve- and she’d always wanted to visit Earth properly.

She made it up to the top of the stairs, balancing a cardboard box on her hip and dragging a suitcase behind her. The woman on reception had said that two of her new flatmates had already moved in , which she as kind of banking on, not wanting to have to put everything down to dig through her pockets and find out the envelope containing her key.

Leaning rather awkwardly against the wall, Jenny managed to knock with her elbow, crossing her fingers, and smiling, relived, when the door opened up. She hadn’t been expecting to wind up on the top floor, so it was a bit of a relief knowing she wasn’t about to drip her stuff everywhere.

“Oh! Hiya!” The door had been opened by a woman with short blonde hair, who almost immediately offered her a warm smile and then moved to help with the box. “What’s your room number? I can show y’the way.”

Jenny glanced at her, grateful at least that she seemed nice enough. “Hey! I’m in 317, I think the sheet said.”

As they got into the red-carpeted corridor, her new friend called towards one of the rooms on the end. “Yaz? Someone new ’s just arrived!” It earned a response which couldn’t be heard through the door, and a good natured laugh from the woman. “She’s still unpacking- she’s great, though, promise.”

“Oh! you’re by the door then, that’s easy enough.” The blonde pushed her way into the room, setting the box down onto the desk inside. Following her inside, Jenny glanced around the room, looking at the simple furnishings, mildly impressed. She’d honestly been expecting worse.

“Thanks for the hand. I’m Jenny.”

Once Jenny had let go of her suitcase and turned back to the woman, she found herself being offered a hand to shake. She took it, a little baffled by the excessive friendliness.

“Thea, Thea Smith. Welcome to flat 40b.”


	2. Packed Up My Life into a Case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's moving day, and Thea's excited to meet the people she'll be living with all year- at least in theory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so, the geography and stuff of the flat, and the campus itself is pretty heavily baed on the university I attended, which was a reletively small, campus university in a pretty rural area, so I know it isn't going to be the most universal experience, but I wanted to go with what I know.

Yaz was about half-way through unpacking a set of cutlery into a drawer when The Doctor came bustling back in, all smiles, holding a cheap £7 kettle they’d grabbed at ASDA under one arm, and juggling a two-pinter of milk and a box of teabags in the other.

“Oh! Yaz- The girl in 317 just arrived. Jenny Smith, she seems nice!”

“Yeah? That’s good, then.” Yaz glanced up at her, “You making a cuppa?”

“Yeah, you want one?”

“I will do, yeah.”

Thea moved to plug the kettle in, before moving over to the corner-cupboard where she’d left most of her stuff to grab mugs and spoons. “Told you we’d need the kettle. That thing on the website just said some flats _may_ have them- I’m guessin’ that means you only get one if the people the year before left one behind.”

“Yeah, makes sense…” It was distinctly odd to see The Doctor worrying about something as painfully human as this- then again, she supposed that was something she was going to have to get used to while they were here.

“Which cupboard did you put your stuff in? I’ve only got two mugs.”

“Right next to yours. Figured it made sense cause I’m in the room next door.”

“Oh, smart. Try ‘n keep some order in here.” The Doctor pulled out a third mug, pausing to look at it for a second. “They’re nice, these. Like the colour.”

Yaz glanced over, trying not to smile. TARDIS blue; of course she’d like it. “Thanks- I just pinched my mum’s old ones.”

Admittedly, the little blue cup did look a little out of place between the impractical, dinosaur shaped mug and the large rainbow one the Doctor had picked out, but she’d been in a rush to get some stuff together, and raiding the TARDIS kitchen had seemed like a pretty good idea at the time.

Once her stuff was away Yaz moved to sit on the table bench in the corner of the kitchen, meaning she was the first to see the next pair who walked in. Yaz was assuming this wasn’t Jenny, since the Doctor- since _Thea_ hadn’t mentioned anyone else being with her. The woman at least looked nice enough, with a bright, genuine smile, even if the man behind her looked more than a little grumpy.

“Hey,” She managed, still a little awkward- she’d hardly been prepared for this situation when she’d woken up that morning.

Luckily for her, the Doctor seemed to be a chatterbox whether she had her memories or not.

“Oh hiya! I was wondering when people were going to start arriving!” She grinned, glancing towards the kettle. “Do you want a cuppa?”

“Hi, yeah, I will thanks. Didn’t know if anyone would be here already- I’m Bill, this is-“ She glanced at the man behind her, giving him an almost-sarcastic smile, before continuing. “This is my grandad. He’s just helping me move in.”

Bill’s ‘grandad’ pulled a face that showed he wasn’t particularly on board with that introduction, but he didn’t say anything, instead starting to look around the room, though for what, Yaz couldn’t tell. Bill set down a box of kitchen stuff onto the side, but didn’t start unpacking yet.

Thea was already borrowing the other two cups out of Yaz’s cupboard. “Well, nice to meet you, Bill. I’m Thea, that’s Yaz- the girl in 317 just arrived a few minutes ago so you’ll probably run into her soon.”

Yaz opened her mouth to speak, before she heard a _very_ familiar sound across the kitchen, her eye immediately going to the man who’d come in with Bill, and the glowing blue device in his hands.

“What’s that?” She asked a little too quickly- because it didn’t look much like the Doctor’s sonic, but it certainly sounded like it.

The man looked up at her, eyebrows raised. “I’m just-“

“He’s checkin’ for termites.” Bill cut in quickly, before he could say anything too off-the-wall. “Last place I lived in had this awful infestation- they wrecked _everything,_ so he offered to come make sure there’s no sign of them here.”

“Well yeah but what does it do?” Yaz asked. Thea seemed remarkably unconcerned, which was odd, but she had mentioned that there’d be some kind of- well, _something_ stopping her from remembering who she was, so maybe ignoring the sonic buzzing was a part of that?

“They don’t like the noise.” The man said, though he pocketed the device in a hurry.

“And there’s no sign of any _termites_.” He gave Bill a rather unsubtle look, which Yaz took to mean there was something else hidden behind the words, “In this building- you’re safe. I have a lecture in an hour, so-“

She caught him as he headed for the door and pulled him into a tight hug, which he rather sulkily accepted.

“ _Thank you_.”

The man looked like he was trying to suppress a smile as he walked off.

Bill looked to the other two women with a fond smile once the door had shut. waiting a minute or so for him to have made the lift (which luckily they were close to) before grinning at them. “Sorry about him, he’s nice, promise, he’s just _really_ Scottish.”

“What was that about Scottish?”

Yaz glanced up as the door to the kitchen swung open again and a redhead pushed inside, holding it open for the woman who was leaving room 319. The door was open for thirty seconds or so before an alarm above it began blaring, prompting the newcomer to quickly shut it, though the noise continued for another fifteen seconds or so afterwards. Once it’d stopped, the one who’d been following her stepped inside before quickly shutting it behind her, giving the alarm a distasteful look.

“I’ve always hated those things.” She turned to the rest of the room, giving them a grin which just oozed trouble. “Mind if I tamper a little?”

“Won’t that get us in trouble?” Asked Bill, who had just begun to unpack her things into the unclaimed cupboard below Thea’s. “Don’t wanna lose our deposit or anything.”

“I know what I’m doing.” The blonde promised, “I work here- well, I will do from tomorrow.”

Yaz glanced up at her questioningly, but it was the redhead who’d come in with her who decided to actually do introductions.

“Hi, I’m Amy, I’m in-“ she glanced back down the hall, trying to remember the number. “Uh- the end one. This is my-“ She glanced at the woman who’d come in with her, who’d by now dragged the bench from the table over towards the door, and was standing on it, opening the alarm box’s casing. “My mother, River Song. She’s just helping me move my stuff in.”

“ _Mother_?” That had won the River’s attention, and she turned around, eyebrows raised. She almost sounded offended.

“ _Daughter_.” Amy replied. There was something in the way she said it that made Yaz think she must be missing out on an inside joke between the pair, but she didn’t want to pry.

“Nice to meet you both. I’m Yasmin- everyone just calls me Yaz.” She said, moving over to take over from Thea on making tea, since she seemed thoroughly distracted with the new arrivals.

“I’m Bill-“ Bill set down the box she’d been unpacking for a moment, offering Amy a little wave. “I’m pretty sure I’m in the one across form you, so that should be fun.” 

“D’you want a hand with that?” Thea gestured at the alarm box, moving over to climb onto the bench beside River before she’d even gotten a response.

“That’s Thea.” Yaz glanced over at them, fond exasperation plain in her voice. Despite the name being new to her, she’d gotten used enough to correcting the Doctor on social norms that Thea forgetting to introduce herself was nothing new.

“Oh

“Oh thanks, nothing like an extra set of hands to make a job easier.” The way the woman said it sounded almost flirtatious, and Yaz felt a slight pang of unearned jealousy, though judging by the way Amy rolled her eyes this was probably a normal occurrence.

“You have been in this flat two minutes an’ you’re already takin’ it to pieces.” She complained, leaning against the edge of the table.

“To be fair, if it stops that alarm going off every five minute I’m all for it.” Bill glanced around from where she was trying to cram entirely too many mugs into one cupboard.

“Do you two want one?” Yaz held up the box of tea bags towards Amy and River, before glancing at Bill, “Might need to borrow a mug from someone if they do, I’ve already used all mine and Thea’s.”

“Oh, yeah, I will do, thanks.” Amy confirmed.

“River?” She checked.

Stepping down from the bench, and then offering Thea a hand with getting down herself, River shook her head. “I’m just fine, dear. Should probably be clearing off soon anyway- I start teaching from tomorrow.”

“You’re a professor?” Thea asked a little too quickly. “That’s so cool, what do you teach?”

“Visiting lecturer. Archaeology.”

“That’s so cool. Love archaeology, I do.”

Yaz shot Thea an amused look. Was she trying to _flirt_? That was definitely somewhere on the list of things she was meant to be preventing, so she cut in. “You hate archaeology.”

Thea turned pink. “…Love to hate?” She corrected herself, a little sheepish. Luckily River laughed.

“Don’t worry, dear, I don’t take things like that to heart. You should come along to one of my lectures, though- You never know, I might teach you to love it after all.”

Yaz busied herself with the tea, mostly so as not to impose on the goodbye between Amy and River (which included a lot more be carefuls than she would have expected from someone who immediately tampered with their electronics on arrival), and was about half way through handing the mismatched mugs out when she spotted the blonde heading out, leaving her, Thea, Amy to take seats at the table, while Bill finished up putting her things away. 

“Sorry about her,” Amy offered, glancing at the door, though she was still smiling, “She’s always like that.”

“No- No she was cool. It’s cool.” Thea was also watching the door. She paused for a second, before rather unsubtly asking, “So, uh. Does anyone know the Uni’s policy on electives?”

Yaz noticed Bill giving her a knowing smile, her eyebrows raised. She just shrugged in return. She didn’t know what to think. The Doctor had never really expressed romantic interest in anybody when she’d been around- there’d been a flirtatious glimmer there with O, but after how that had turned out? Nothing.

She hadn’t expected Thea to find someone to crush on this fast. At least it seemed a crush she was unlikely to act on, at least not successfully, but still. Yaz hadn’t taken the Doctor’s warnings about not letting her be with a human particularly seriously, but now? Well, there was a chance this could get tricky for her.

Yaz was rather forcefully dragged out of her train of thought when Thea stood up, taking her mug over to the sink to deal with later.

“Where are you going?” She asked, probably sounding a little sharper than she’d intended.

Thea glanced over, smiling a little.

“There’s a sign-in thing for PHD students at the Edison Centre at three.”

“But it’s not even two yet?” Bill glanced at her from across the room. Thea shrugged.

“Yeah, but I’ve never been great at gettin’ places on time. Plus, I haven’t got a clue where the Edison Centre is, so I need some time to go explorin’.”

She shot a reassuring grin at Yaz, who watched her go with a sinking feeling. She was suddenly beginning to think that keeping an eye on Thea might not be as easy as she’d thought.

* * *

“So I just-“

“Yeah, just like that.” Jack leant over, tapping two buttons on the new phone they’d picked up for Rose, showing her how to get the camera open. The technology was way before his time, but the principle was the same, and he’d spent about time hopping through the decades that he new the basics.

He was better with it than the Doctor, at least, who it turned out despite all his technical genius, had managed to take fourteen accidental screenshots and lock himself out of the password within ten minutes.

“This is mad- can I keep this?” Rose held the phone up towards the Doctor, who laughed slightly.

“Once you go back home? Absolutely not. It’s way beyond what phones can do in your time- not to mention I don’t want to know what your mother would do with it.”

“I bet Mickey would love this- he’s good with computers and stuff.” Rose remarked, though she was quickly distracted from her train of thought when she hit a wrong button and opened some brightly coloured game or other.

“Oh now you definitely can’t keep it- I’m not having Ricky the idiot having a ten year sneak preview on technology.” There was a vague popping noise as whatever the Doctor was working on sparked, drawing both of their attention, though when he didn’t seem worried, they settled back into the crash-course.

Learning how to use 2017 tech with Jack was at least it was a little more interesting than the two hours she’d spent with the Doctor catching up on twelve years of current events so she could keep up in conversation without seeming like she’d spent over a decade living under a rock. It didn’t quite match up to the pop-culture marathon that the three of them had had the night before though; Television had gotten pretty good in the years since her time, as it turned out- not to mention that they’d gotten through a frankly ridiculous bigger-on-the-inside popcorn bucket.

She wasn’t entirely sure how useful it’d been- she certainly couldn’t remember the names of most of the Game of Throne’s characters, the plot of Thor, or what a minions was, but at least it’d been fun. Maybe she’d just stay quiet in conversations, or pretend to be very into retro stuff.

That might work out better for her.

It was some comfort she wasn’t being expected to pass any classes, so she hadn’t had to brush up on her academia. She had to be there, but since they weren’t planning on sticking around more than a few weeks- a month at most- her grades didn’t matter much. In a way, it might even be fun. She’d get to have a bit of that University life, meet some new friends, do some investigating, and she wouldn’t even have to sit through two years of A-Level’s first.

“You feel like you can use this thing?” Jack gestured to the phone, glancing at her to gauge her comfort level with it. Rose just shrugged.

“I can text on it, that’s about all I really need, right? And I like the birds game. Should be fun for if I get in any really boring lectures.”

The Doctor glanced over at the pair of them, grinning. “Knew you’d get it all figured out. If you can use that and the laptop fine, I think you’re ready. Want me to help you move your stuff in?” Rose raised an eyebrow at him, and he gave her a somewhat pouty look. “You’re gonna ask him aren’t you?” He jabbed his sonic in a mock-accusatory way at Jack.

“We’re not supposed to be drawing attention to ourselves, remember?” She gave him one of those smiles which always seemed to placate him.

“You sayin’ I draw attention to myself?”

Both Jack and Rose responded, “Yes.” In unison, sending all three of them into a fit of giggles.

As much fun as playing spies would be, she was definitely going to miss this.

* * *

“Do we have to go right away?”

“I don’t want to risk missing whatever’s going on!” The Doctor hit another lever on the console, already sending them spinning back into a rocky take-off, despite Martha’s protests.

“You have a time machine!”

“It could be important.”

Martha glanced at the suitcase standing by the doors, a box perched on top of it packed with pots and pans and whatever else she’d need, all grabbed from the nearest TARDIS kitchen. At least the mismatched assortment of what roughly 21st Century-looking gear she’d thrown together would fit the student aesthetic pretty well.

The Doctor had handed her a very pink laptop bag, and what was apparently a phone in some garish lime green case. She’d spent the last twenty minutes trying to figure out how the thing worked, though she hadn’t gotten much beyond basic texts and calls. She’d tried to ask where he’d picked them up, but he’d only mentioned that Rose had used them on some other occasion they’d had to come to this time- though he couldn’t remember quite when.

Martha had just about had the good grace not to respond grumpily at that.

“We’re jumping like ten years into my future, and I have to stay there and act like I belong. Might be easier if I had a little more information. You should have seen the mess I made in the kitchens when you used that Chameleon thing.”

“But that was way out of your time, this is only a couple of years, you’ll be fine.” The Doctor looked at her messing with the phone, looking like he was resisting the urge to roll his eyes. “It’s intuitive- very user friendly, you’ll be glued to it in no time.”

“But-“

The TARDIS landed with a familiar noise, the floor shuddering slightly as they hit solid ground again.

“You’ll have fun! And we’re here now, anyway. You alright with your bags?” He asked, his tone pretty effectively shutting off any further complaints about her being thrown into this blind.

Martha tried not to let her annoyance show, though her tone was a little sharper than usual when she spoke up. “Yep, I’m fine. I’ll _try_ and call you when I’m in.”, before wrestling the suitcase and oversized cardboard box closer to the door.

The Doctor looked at her for a moment, a little more genuine this time. “You be careful, yeah? Call if you need help.”

She nodded, softening slightly. “I’ll see you again soon?”

“Course you will. It’s a quick job, a week or two maximum. Promise.” He grinned at her, and she smiled back, though there was still a little frustration behind the expression.

“See you then, Doctor.”

* * *

Campus was, luckily, not as much of a maze as Thea had been expecting, though it’d still taken her a while to actually find the Edison Centre. At least when she’d gotten there she’d been at the front of what turned out to be a very, very long line, and so she’d gotten done a lot quicker than what she would have if she’d left later.

She’d taken a longer route than strictly necessary on her way back to the flat, stopping to pick up a coffee from the quirky little shop on the ground floor of the SU, and was about half way back when she noticed a particularly frustrated looking woman sitting on a bench with a box on her knee and a suitcase propped up beside her.

“Hey, is everythin’ alright?” She asked, taking a few tentative steps towards the woman. She didn’t want to end up annoying her further- though when she didn’t get any bad reaction from the move, she stopped to take a seat on the bench beside her.

“Yeah I’m just-“ She fumbled with a bit of paper with her student-card still attached at the bottom. “There’s a code thing you have to scan to get the campus map on, and I can’t work out how to-“

“Oh! New phone?” Thea suddenly looked a lot more cheerful. Directions weren’t her strong suit but technology? Technology she could do. “Did you switch from apple? Android can be a bit fiddly when you’re not used to it. I can show you, if you like?”

The woman looked relieved. “You don’t mind? Friend of mine said he’d show me how but then he just kept saying it was easy and I’d work it out.” She held the phone out, and Thea leant in to take it, making sure she could see the screen so she’d know in future (it didn’t seem to make sense to do it just to leave her lost the next time).

Thea rolled her eyes. “’Course not- hate it when people are like that- actin’ like everyone is good at everythin’. It’s fish in trees. Everyone’s gotta learn somewhere. I’m Thea Smith”

“Martha Jones.”

Her smile was warm and grateful, and Thea couldn’t help but smile back. She had a feeling her and Martha would get along well.

“Well, there you go.” She handed the phone with the map back over. “I’d offer directions but I only really know the way to Hawthorns, the SU, and the Edison Centre so far.”

“Hang on, you’re in Hawthorns?” Martha asked.

“Yeah, in 40b.”

Her face suddenly lit up. “Oh, that is mad. I’m the same.”

Thea grinned. “ _Brilliant_. I can show you the way there, if you like?”

“Yeah, that’d be great. Better than trying to find the map on here.”

She stood up, grabbing Martha’s box under one arm so she didn’t have to struggle with her bags all the way there. “Come on then, Martha Jones.”

* * *

“Well which pocket did you put it in?”

“If I remembered that we’d already be in there wouldn’t we?”

Thea glanced at whatever lover’s spat was going on outside the doors to Hawthorns, trying to school her look into something less amused. The two didn’t look to be arguing particularly fiercely, though the blonde woman had shoved her companion away from the keypad by the door rather hard when he’d started fiddling with it.

“Oi! It’s my first day ‘ere you’re not gonna break in!”

“Well if you hadn’t-“

“Scuse me?” Martha spoke up from just behind Thea.

The man turned to face them, suddenly going from mild frustration to a winning smile.

“Hello, ladies. Captain Jack Harkness; Can I help you two with something?”

Thea couldn’t bite back her urge to laugh any further. “I was going to ask you the same question. Lost your key card, _Captain_?”

Jack raised his hands in mock-surrender. “Hey, don’t look at me. I’m not a student, I’m just helping her move her stuff in.”

“I put it in a bag, just can’t remember which one?” The blonde admitted sheepishly. “Could have sworn I had it in a side pocket but-“

Thea dug her card out of her back pocket, tapping it against the scanner and unlocking the doors. The blonde woman rather gratefully pushed inside, holding the door open for her and Martha. She let go of it just as Jack was coming through, leaving him to rush so he wouldn’t get locked outside.

“Hey!” He called after her, though there was still a smile on his face to show he wasn’t particularly upset. “What was that for?”

“You tryin’ to embarrass me. They could have been my new flatmates for all you know” She turned to face Martha and Thea clearly grateful. “I’m Rose.”

It was hard not to notice the way Martha’s face fell at the name.

Thea didn’t get much of a chance to actually introduce herself, because Jack’s phone had begun blaring, and Rose was looking at him, concerned. Not wanting to pry, she kept going, showing Martha up towards their flat.

“Everything alright?” She asked Martha, once they were out of earshot.

“Yeah, everything’s fine.”

“You sure?”

Martha paused for a second or so, before admitting. “It’s nothing, I’ve just got this _friend_ ,” Thea frowned slightly, the way she said friend implied they were anything but. “And his ex is called Rose, and he just- never stops making everything about her.”

“Oh- I’m really sorry. That sucks.” Thea wasn’t sure what else to say, but it was hard not to feel a little upset on Martha’s behalf. She seemed like such a great person, at least from the conversation they’d had so far- and she was at med school, so she had to be pretty damn smart. If this was the same _friend_ from before Thea already got the impression she deserved better.

“Yeah but-“ Martha put on a smile that looked a little forced. “Doesn’t matter now. Which way is ours then?”

Thea led her towards the lifts.

“When I’d left there were five of us in. Me, Yaz-she’s great you’ll love her. Then there was Jenny, Bill, and Amy. They all seem really nice.”

“Oh so it’s an all-girls flat?” Martha asked, sounding more curious than frustrated, which was a plus.

“You didn’t choose them?” As far as Thea was aware, there was a tick-box on the forms for mixed flats, so Martha must have picked these at some point.

“Oh-“ She bit her lip, “Yeah, I just didn’t realise it’d been accepted.”

Thea smiled a little, stepping towards the entrance to 40b. “Which room number are you? Or do you want to dump this stuff,” She gestured to the box she was holding, “In the kitchen first?”

Martha glanced down at the bag she was pulling, ditching it against the door marked storage. “Kitchen first- My keys are in there somewhere anyway.”

She’d been expecting the kitchen to be empty by now. What she certainly wasn’t expecting, was to see Jenny, Bill, Amy, Yaz, and a girl with dark hair, who frankly looked like she’d rather be anywhere else, all crowded around the too-small kitchen table with mugs and muffins in hand.

“Oh! Hey, I didn’t expect you all to still be in here.” Thea glanced around, smiling at the new girl. She got a half-hearted smile in return.

“Ash brought free food.” Bill grinned, nodding to a large biscuit tin full of muffins sitting on the table.

“My girlfriend stress bakes.” The dark haired girl- who Thea presumed must be Ash- offered in response.

“Oh, well, great! Nice to meet you, I’m Thea Smith.”

“Ash Knight.” The woman replied, her smile a little tighter as she said it, as though she wasn’t a fan of the name at all.

“Oh- This is Martha Jones.” Thea set the box she was carrying down on the nearest countertop, and then made a grand gesture at Martha, “Martha this is Yaz, Amy, Bill, and Jenny.” She gestured to everyone individually, “And obviously Ash.”

“Is this everyone, then?” Martha glanced around the room.

“I think there’s meant to be eight of us?” Jenny glanced around too.

Just as Thea opened her mouth to speak again, the kitchen door was pushed open, and the blonde they’d met outside- Rose- came striding in.

“Oh, everyone’s already here? Hi. I’m Rose Tyler.”

“And that would be eight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so much to everyone who was so lovely in the comments of the last chapter- I'll try to have Chapter Three up for this time next week!
> 
> Thank you so much for giving this a chance!! ❤

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure how frequent updates will be yet- hopefully once a week, but they might come quicker/slower depending on my schedule at the time. 
> 
> Please please please let me know what you thought in the comments? Like not to beg but it's so helpful to hear how people feel about this stuff! 
> 
> Thank you so much for giving this a chance!! ❤


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